


Bleedin’ Hearts and Flowers

by MsGordo_Writings



Category: Angel: the Series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Torture
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-31
Updated: 2020-01-31
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:00:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22486729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MsGordo_Writings/pseuds/MsGordo_Writings
Summary: Buffy dies and so do the rest of the Scoobs and most of the LA crew in the showdown with Glory.  Spike and Dawn are the only ones left.
Relationships: Spike & Dawn Summers
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> These are the writings of [ MsGordo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kipplemine/profile), posted here with the author's express permission in order to preserve them from Yahoo Groups. If I have missed any tags or warnings, please feel free to let me know.

**Author: Karen.**

**Title: Bleedin’ Hearts and Flowers** .  **(1/?)**

**Pairing: D/C and assorted others later on.**

**Timeline: End of ‘The Gift’ onwards.**

**Rating: R for violence, character deaths and (sigh) Spike’s mouth.**

**Synopsis: Buffy dies and so do the rest of the Scoobs and most of the LA crew in the showdown with Glory. Spike and Dawn are the only ones left. Inspired by a challenge I picked up last year and then promptly lost the site and never found again so if this sounds familiar then can you let me know where you read the challenge so I can send it to them? Thanks.**

**A/N: This is my first ever fanfic. I wrote it and never posted it anywhere. Recently picked it up again and found a way to incorporate Connor (and you guys know how much I like to do that!). So, I have five chaps completed, but this was written before I had daily access to a pc so the last three eps are still in longhand on bits of paper. It may take a while to transfer them to the screen but I will get there. For the purposes of this fic, there is no Fred. The guys never went to Pylea.**

**Part 1.**

  
  


Spike took his eyes from the road ahead to glance briefly in the rearview mirror at Dawn huddled on the back seat beneath his black duster. His eyes narrowed as he focused on the girl's body searching for the rise and fall of her breathing. For a brief second he panicked and turned the wheel to swing the car to the side of the road, then she gave a gentle sigh and he send a brief thank you to whatever misguided deity was watching over them. He was in a constant state of apprehension that whilst he concentrated on putting as many miles between them and Sunnydale as possible, the girl would give up and slip away to join the Slayer and her followers on the other side. He switched his gaze back to the highway and gripped the wheel as a fresh wave of pain broke over him at the thought of the events of the previous night.

They had all known as they had prepared for to rescue Dawn from Glory's clutches that they were, in all likelihood, going to their deaths. Buffy had thrown everything she had at the hell god and still it hadn't been enough. The Scoobs sat in the magic shop waiting for the Slayer to give the word to march into battle, they had all turned as the shop door had swung open and Angel, Cordelia and Wesley had strode in. A stunned silence had spread as they walked forward to stand before Buffy and Giles, typically Cordelia hade been the first to break the charged silence. "Jeez Buffy, Custer's last stand much?” 

Buffy frowned and turned to Giles, he looked puzzled and said, ” I assure you this has nothing to do with me. I've had no contact with Angel in months." 

Buffy looked quizzically back to Angel and raised her eyebrows; he stared back at the pale, drawn face he loved so well. "Cordy. She knew." 

Buffy looked back at her former friend, "Cordelia? How?” 

The tall brunette gave the smaller girl a self-mocking smile, "Vision girl remember? I saw you." She glanced around her. "All of you. I know what you're going up against, you need us with you if you stand any chance of getting Dawn out of there alive." Her eyes slid away for a moment and then she stared resolutely back at Buffy, her face hard, " I saw it all and like it or not we are this town's only hope." 

The Slayer watched the emotions play across Cordy's face and suddenly the girl that Cordelia had been in high school was gone forever in Buffy's eyes and the other girl's true nature shone out for the first time. No longer vain and shallow, but brave and true a fellow warrior on the side of light. She stepped forward and the girls shared a tight embrace, Buffy turned away and walked into Angel's arms. For a brief blissful moment she allowed herself to lean into his strength and then she looked up and smiled, "I'm so glad you came." 

His arms tightened briefly and then fell away as she turned to welcome Wesley. The ex-watcher and Slayer regarded each other warily for a moment and Buffy saw that the Englishman had changed as much as Cordelia. He seemed to have snapped into focus somehow and now stood before her finally fulfilling the promise of the man she had always suspected had been beneath his surface. His face, like Cordy's, looked older and more knowing and he held his body confidently, secure in his role as defender of right at Angel's side. "Good to see you Wes." 

He flashed a brief smile and held out his hand in invitation, "You too Buffy." She looked at his outstretched hand for a moment and then walked past it to embrace him as she had the others. 

They spent their last few minutes filling in the L.A. crew on Glory and Dawn's identity and renewing the ties that had loosened during the last two years. All too soon it was time to leave and they grimly picked up their weapons and watched as Willow approached the damaged Tara and gently coaxed her into leading them to Glory. Spike blinked furiously to clear his vision as tears welled up again, he had spent the best part of two centuries causing death and destruction wherever he had gone but even he had never seen anything like the horror that was unleashed upon Buffy and her friends that night.

Willow, sweet brave Willow, had been the first to die. As she had tried to work her spell to weaken Glory and restore Tara's mind the god had thrown her onto the scaffolding tower, which had been erected for the ritual. As she had crashed into the tower a protruding beam had impaled her, pushing through her spine, ribs and lungs. She had been dead before her last scream died away. Numb with shock the gang could only watch as Glory backhanded Tara tearing her head from her body as easily as she would tear as piece of paper into two. The head had rolled to a stop at Anya's feet; her eyes staring mindlessly up a look of bewildered incomprehension forever frozen on her face. Finally they moved, leaping into battle screaming their horror, tears of pain and grief threatening to blind them.

Spike had led Anya and Wesley in an assault on the tower roaring mindlessly as he cut down demon after demon. He remembered catching a brief glimpse of Angel and Xander fighting back to back, working seamlessly together as though they had been allies all their lives. The sounds of Buffy and Glory's battle rang out as they sought to eradicate each other once and for all, and all around were the screams of the dying suffering horrible agonies in their last moments on earth.

Cordelia and Giles were next to fall. They were overwhelmed by hordes of Glory's minions and had gone down beneath the silver flash of axes and swords fighting to protect each other until the end. Angel witnessed their deaths and he howled in pain and grief as Cordelia died. Xander turned his head to see the cause of Angel's horror and a crossbow bolt buried itself beneath his ear. He pitched forward onto his face and lay there shuddering as the last of his life drained away; it was then that Angel released Angelus. His face morphed as the demon was released and he leapt forward killing remorselessly anything that crossed his path he tore into Giles and Cordelia's killers from behind and soon all that was left was a heap of grotesquely mutilated bodies. He sank down beside Cordelia for a moment and gathered her into his arms, her face had been nearly bisected, and her chest ripped brutally open revealing her internal organs. Angel kissed her ruined face lightly and then laid her gently down next to Giles. The watcher's body had been cut in two and his eyes stared upwards with an expression of absolute horror. 

With a last look at his friends Angel turned away and sprinted for the tower where he could hear Spike’s furious shouts, as he drew level with them Anya turned. Her eyes widened as she saw he was alone and she frantically began to search the surrounding area for Xander, when she saw his body she released a scream that was agonizing in its pain and intensity. She froze in place until Angel seized her and flung her bodily the steps to where Wesley and the blonde vampire were at last beginning to have an effect on the demons between them and Dawn. Brown robed figures were arrayed on the sides of the scaffolding looking like nightmarish Christmas decorations as their internal organs and various fluids hung or dripped down. They began to be aware of Dawn's screams from high above and the young girl's frenzied cries finally pierced Anya's shock and she moved forward with the men, screaming Xander's name like battle cry.

They lost Wesley as they neared the top, a demon came from nowhere as they prepared for the final assault to reach Dawn and tackled him, flinging them both from the tower to crash to the ground some seventy feet below. Anya copied the demon's actions a few seconds later in a brave attempt to save Dawn from the small figure standing in front of her drawing a knife across her stomach. The young woman threw herself past Angel and Spike as they dispatched the last of Glory's followers and running headlong along the narrow walkway had crashed into the elderly man from behind carrying them both down to where Wes and his killer lay broken below. 

Angel and Spike moved forward together and swiftly untied the stricken girl catching her in their arms and moving her away from the sacrificial platform. Their eyes met in horror as a bright flash from below announced the opening of the portal and they realized there was only one way to close it. Blood. Spike tightened his hold on Dawn and hissed, "I won't let you take her Angelus. You'll have to kill me first.” 

Angel wordlessly shook his head and stared down at the girl sobbing into his chest. Although Buffy had explained her true nature and the magic the monks had worked to place her in the Slayers protection he still had trouble believing it. It was real to him. He carried memories within of the past five years that couldn't be anything but real they were so clear. He mindlessly stroked her long brown hair that she used to make him brush by the hour in the days when he was first accepted by Buffy's family and friends after his return from Hell. In some ways she had taken the place of his own sister, Kathy, killed over two centuries ago by his own hand. He shook his head again; he couldn't send another loved one to their death no matter what the consequences. He looked back at Spike, "She’s safe. She stays with us." 

Spike met his level gaze and after a brief pause nodded. "Okay. We have to bleedin' move." They fought for balance as the tower shook beneath them, "Now!” 

They turned to the opening behind them and then Buffy was there sobbing as she gathered her sister into her arms. She had finally beaten Glory down and the hell-god had sunk back into her host body gambling that Buffy could not bring herself to kill the helpless, severely wounded Ben. She was right, Buffy stepped back and stared down at the critically injured man, before she could speak a lone Knight of Byzantium had sprang forward from the shadows and pierced Ben's heart, ramming the sword home until the steel could be heard to scrape on the ground beneath. She watched as the Knight pulled his sword free with some effort and swung to severe the head from the dead body, the warrior finally looked up and Buffy saw tears of emotion stream down his face, " The Beast is dead." She nodded and he continued, "I am the last of my brotherhood on this continent. I will leave the Key to your protection and go to my brothers overseas. If you need us your Council will know how to contact us." 

Buffy stepped forward until she was staring directly into his eyes, " I never needed you before and I won't need you again. Your order is the reason my sister was taken and the reason at least two of my friends died here tonight. Now you have the nerve to tell me that after all you have done to find my sister and kill her you will  _ let me _ keep her whilst you run back to your stupid Knights of the Round Table and wait for your next crusade?" 

She slammed a hand into his chest and he flew backwards into the air crashing to the floor some twenty feet away, she stalked after him and jerked him furiously to his feet,

"You will leave and you won't ever come back. You will tell whoever runs your twisted operation that if any of you ever come near me or any of my people again I will cut you down until you are no more. I don't care whether there's a hundred, a thousand or a hundred thousand of you; you will all die." 

Her head jerked up as the sound of the portal being ripped open exploded above her with a cry she thrust the man away and ran for the tower. As she ran the she saw the bodies of her friends all around her; Xander, Cordy, Wes, Anya and her grief rose in her, almost crippling in it's force. She threw herself at the tower and her relief as she saw Dawn alive finally released her emotions and the tears came slowly at first and then gut-wrenchingly unstoppable. She finally released Dawn and pushed her into Spike's arms; smoothing her sister's hair away from her face she smiled through her tears, "Dawnie I have to go." She placed a finger on her sister's lips to silence her protest " I have to. I can't let you die if there is any way I can save you." 

She leaned forward and brushed her lips lightly over Dawn's cheek. Buffy switched her gaze to Angel's and all the love she felt for him blazed from her searing his soul with its heat, she smiled and then drew back her arm and hit him with everything she had. Spike gasped as Angel fell and Buffy said, "He would never have let me go, if you love me you have to." 

He met her grim gaze and felt his dead heart break; he stared back at her and lifted his hand to trail one cold finger down her face. "Go Slayer" 

Buffy closed her eyes briefly and turned her head to press a light kiss into the vampire's palm, " Take care of her Spike, no matter what; don't let anyone hurt her". 

With a last look at Dawn she turned and sprinted to the end of the platform diving gracefully into the blinding white light of the portal. Spike held Dawn to him as her sister, and his love, disappeared from sight and then flinched as Angel reared to his feet. He looked wildly around him and then realized what Buffy had done. "Spike she's yours now, you have to be her family." Before the younger vampire could stop him he ran after Buffy and threw himself over the edge desperate to end the pain of Buffy's sacrifice, Spike laid Dawn down and ran after Angel staring disbelievingly after his grandsire.

Angel fell through the portal reaching Buffy who was held in the center, he flung his arms wide and held onto her writhing body as the life was seared out of it, the heat of the dimensional doorway overcame him and his body was engulfed in prenatural fire as Buffy with her last ounce of life breathed his name. The portal vanished and they plunged to earth engulfed in an inferno, together at last in death. As their bodies hit the floor Angel's form exploded in a cloud of ash, Buffy's burnt fiercely for another few seconds and then she too collapsed into cinders.

Spike drew his hand tiredly over his face and swallowed yet more tears as he saw Buffy's lovely face in his mind's eye once more. He had carried Dawn down and had walked slowly through the carnage below unwilling to believe he and Dawn were the only survivors. Finally he left, still carrying the silent girl, and ignoring the sirens that were screaming all over town had reached Revello Drive as the first rays of morning sunlight streaked across the sky. 

No matter what he tried he failed to reach Dawn and finally he had stripped her as impersonally as a doctor and bathed and treated her abused body. When he finished he dressed her in the warmest pajamas he could find and laid her down in her room, he left her staring at the ceiling and walked downstairs to think. His first move had to be to get Dawn out of town, the bodies of the Scoobs were sure to be discovered if they hadn't been already and once they had been identified their association to Buffy would become known and there would be people wanting answers. There was also the question of any survivors of Glory's followers, if there were in fact any. With the destruction of their god who knew what revenge they might try to take if they learned that Dawn had survived. No, they had no choice but to leave as soon as night fell. 

Spike spent the whole of that day packing everything that he thought Dawn could need refusing to dwell on the deaths of Buffy and her friends, he even steeled himself to enter Buffy's room and managed to find the silver cross Angel had given her, fortunately in it's box, the stake given to her by the slayer Kendra which had been christened 'Mr. Pointy' as keepsakes. As he left he caught sight of the many photos scattered over the mirror and pin board of the Slayer and her friends and had removed them quickly shoving them into his pockets and as an afterthought tucking Buffy's stupid stuffed pig under his arm.

Next was Joyce's room, from there he took a stack of photo albums and large framed picture of the three summers women grouped together at the beach. He also conducted a frenzied search for Joyce's address book, which he found neatly put away with other personal papers in a box at the back of the wardrobe. He took the whole box and stacked it by the front door with the steadily growing pile of possessions ready to be moved to the car as soon as night fell. Dawn had a father somewhere and he needed to be told what had happened. Spike reasoned that even if he hadn't come to his daughters when their mother had died surely he would come when he knew his youngest child was now completely alone in the world.

As soon as the last light of the sun had faded from the sky Spike moved. He had decided to take Joyce's old car instead of his own, as it was much larger and he needed all the room he could get. He drove it right up onto the lawn and as quickly as he could had crammed the boxes and bags he had packed during the day into every available space and then had hastily laid Dawn on the back seat blankets and all with his coat over the top as an extra layer of warmth. He took a last look at the house and then climbed into the driver's seat and drove away without looking back. On his way out of town he had stopped at both the magic shop and Giles' apartment taking whatever books and papers he could find that made any reference at all to Dawn or the Key, satisfied he had done everything possible to cover his tracks he put his foot down and drove as fast as he could out of town.

The lights of Los Angeles rose before him on the horizon and he felt some of the tension of the past day ebb. They were nearly there, soon he would have the time to regroup and consider his options.  _ Their  _ options. After all, and against all probability, he was a family man now. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Title: Bleedin’ Hearts and Flowers. (2/?)**

**Author: Karen**

**Rating: R**

**Pairing: D/C (eventually)**

**Disclaimer: Not mine.**

**Synopsis: The Scooby gang and most of Angel Investigations died to save Dawn in the battle against Glory, leaving Spike and Dawn as the only Sunnydale survivors. Set in after Buffy season 5 and Angel season 2. There is no Fred as they never went to Pylea.**

**Dedications: To LunyKim, because she reminded me that I still had to post the rest of this fic. Oops!**

  
  


**Six Weeks Later.**

Spike winced as Dawn slammed her bedroom door the noise echoed down the corridor. He paused a moment undecided whether or not to knock and try to talk to her again and then hurriedly made his way to the stairs and safety as the sound of a glass being thrown against the wall came through the door. It felt like their hundredth argument of the day and it was still only ten o’clock. He almost wished that she were back in the state of catatonia that she had existed in for the week after Buffy had died. 

Spike walked down the stairs and shook a cigarette from the ever-present pack of smokes in his pocket, as he lit it he thought of Buffy and his promise to her and wondered again if he were doing the right thing in turning Dawn over to her father. Dawn definitely didn't seem to think so judging from the majorly fierce tantrums she had been throwing for the past two weeks; today's hissy fit was almost placid compared to some of the others. 

He reached the lobby of the hotel and with an aggrieved sigh threw himself down on the red velour sofa. When he and Dawn had arrived in L.A. three weeks before his one thought had been to get to safety as soon as possible, with the Slayer's allies all dead he had one place left that he could go to; Angel's lair in the heart of the city. The rambling deserted hotel had seemed ideal. On the surface they had no possible connection with the place and there they had room and time to regroup and consider their position. "Still refusing to leave, huh?” 

Spike turned his head to glare at the young black man beside him. "Gunn, just sod off and leave us alone. Don't you have a busy day of car-jacking and drive-by's to be getting on with?" 

Gunn grinned and stretched out his long legs and clapped a hand companionably to Spike's shoulder. "Nah man, I'm cool." He gave a low chuckle. "I bet it just eats you up." 

The vampire shook the hand away and snapped irritably. "What?"

"Your evil bad-ass self brought low by a little girl." Gunn whistled through his teeth. “Man, that has got to hurt." 

Spike gave a furious snarl and leapt to his feet to pace angrily up and down. "She will do as she is sodding well told." He threw the remains of his cigarette at the wall. "What is it with these goddamn Summers women? You tell the bints one thing and they go twice round the world to do the other." He gave a wordless roar and kicked at an ornamental pillar, taking a small crumb of satisfaction in the cloud off dust and grit that exploded from it. 

Gunn raised his eyebrows as Spike resumed his angry pacing. "She's had a bad time. She's just acting out a bit."

Spike gave him a haunted look. "I've known Dawn for a time now. Trust me she's just hitting her bloody stride. Teenagers! Always running on their bloody hormones and not a crumb of sense in their stupid vacant heads. It was much simpler when I just ate them and there was none of this poofy bloody reasoning and understanding them to get in my way." Oblivious to Gunn's sudden look of distaste he continued to rant. “She has to go to her father. I can't raise her; I'm the Big Bad.  _ Evil _ ! The Slayer gave her to me to protect and get to safety not to play happy sodding families with." He swung round and stared at Gunn although the other man got the impression that he wasn't being seen at all. "I have plans. I get this chip out and its hello nasty-pointy-fang-boy, mass destruction and evil plotting here I come." Spike dropped down next to Gunn, put his head in his hands and mumbled. "I can't do that with a kid hanging from my coat tails. I'm a soulless monster not Mary bloody Poppins." 

Gun swallowed another laugh and said dryly. "Yep I can see where that might lose you points with your evil brethren." He looked at the defeated figure next to him and shook his head, Spike was definitely no Angel but he was no longer the unfeeling monster he used to be either. Gunn cast his mind back to the first time he had seen Spike and Dawn and learned of his friend’s deaths. He had come to the hotel to try and find an address for the Slayer in Sunnydale after five long days of trying to contact his friends via their cell phones and pager services. 

As Gunn walked in he heard a low voice coming from the office and crossed the lobby silently to see Spike crouched in front of the silent Dawn gently sponging her face. "C’mon L'tl bit let's just try and get some of this stuff down you." He picked a bowl of the floor by his feet and waved it enticingly under her nose. 

Gunn winced as the smell of horribly burnt chicken soup assaulted him. "Damn, are you trying to kill the girl off?" 

He staggered back as Spike swung round revealing his demon face and snarled. "Who are you?” 

Gunn recovered and glared back pulling a stake from his back pocket as he moved cautiously into the room. "I think I should be asking the questions here Doctor Death, I know who I am who the hell are you? And where's Angel?" 

Spike stooped lightening fast and pulled Dawn into his arms, he backed slowly away keeping Gunn firmly in his sights. "You can't have the girl. If you want to live turn around and walk back out the door." 

Gunn smirked and looked from the vampire to the insensible girl in his arms. "I don't think that's gonna happen, vampy. Just put her down and come fight me for her." 

Spike pulled Dawn closer to him and eyed the distance to the door; it would be do-able if there weren’t a man with a sharp stick just dying to turn him into Mr. Dusty. He growled and his eyes shone a bright yellow. "Look mate, I don't want to have to kill you but I will. Just turn around and forget you ever saw us. You don't know who you're dealing with here." 

Gunn laughed and sneered. "I think I'm dealing with the biggest pansy-assed vampire I seen yet. Is this how you fight all your battles, talking people to death?" He glanced at Dawn again and his eyes hardened. "Or just take the little ones and save yourself some unnecessary conversation?" 

Spike backed against the wall and realized he had nowhere left to go. The boy smelled human the chances were if he put Dawn down and attacked he would be blinded by pain from his chip and before you knew it would fit neatly into a small plastic bag.  _ So _ not the way he wanted to go out. Gunn moved in closer sensing his indecision, the way he moved was that of a seasoned warrior; no needless posturing, just a cold implacable determination to get the job done. Spike watched him approach and finally reached a decision. "I know Angel, we're old friends. I'm not hurting the girl, I'm her protector." 

Gunn snorted in derision and shifted his hand to grip the stake more comfortably. "Well you sure aren't my idea of a knight in shining armor. The ridges and fang thing doesn't exactly scream Sir Lancelot you know?" He stared at Dawn again. “She's spaced. You put some kind of a mojo on her?" 

Spike pushed Dawn behind him and prepared to make good on his promise to protect her with his life. "Hello? Vampire here mate not sodding Harry Potter” Then he had an idea. "Well done though, well spotted. Absolutely right, majorly bad mojo on the girl and unless you back off  _ right now  _ I'll die and she'll be stuck like this forever. Prepared to live with that on you conscience are you?" 

Gunn paused uncertainly staring between Spike and the huddled shape behind him, that was all the vampire needed. Pulling Dawn behind him he moved with all his supernatural speed for the slightly more secure area of the lobby, Gunn roared with outrage and followed. __

  
  


Spike threw Dawn onto the sofa behind him and whirled to face the younger man with a snarl. "Back off, another step and you'll regret it." 

Gunn froze as the vampire laid his fingers on Dawn's throat and flexed his hand into a claw ready to tear her soft skin away; he backed up a step and glared impotently. "When Angel hears about this, he's going to track you down and kill you. Dead and dusty." 

Spike stared back in confusion and shook his head. "Well I have to admit I'm not that bothered by that notion, mate. Angel being dead and all." Gunn stumbled back a step and shook his head; he opened his mouth and found he couldn't force a sound out. Spike straightened slowly and watched as the other man fought for some kind of control. "You don’t know." He looked briefly down at Dawn and then reached into the pocket of his jeans, he took out his wallet and threw it to Gunn. "Open it." Gunn shook his head still reeling from the brutally delivered news of Angel's death; Spike rolled his eyes and snapped. "Just open the damn thing will you?" 

Gunn stooped to pick the leather case off the floor never taking his eyes off Spike; he flipped it open and stared down into the face of the Slayer. "Do you know who that is?" 

Gunn slowly nodded and raised his eyes to meet the vampire's eyes. "She's a friend of Angel and Cordy's. Buffy." 

Spike swallowed and took an unneeded breath to try and lessen the sudden pain in his chest at the sound of her name. "Do you know  _ what  _ she is?" 

Gunn nodded again "The Slayer." 

Spike glanced back at Dawn behind him and waved a hand to indicate the young girl. "This here's her sister. Angel and Buffy died to save her and left me to protect her. She's been like this ever since." He met Gunn's eyes again. "This here is what is known as a Mexican standoff. You let me put the kitten to bed and then you and me will sit down and have a man to man. What do you say?" 

Gunn swallowed and whispered. "It's true?" Spike met his gaze levelly and nodded watching the other man carefully for any sign of violence; Gunn narrowed his eyes. "Did you kill them?" 

Spike threw up his hands and shook his head. "Hell no! I told you, they died to protect Dawn and left me to carry the flag for the good guys. Look I'll tell you everything but let me put the kid to bed, she's had a long day of staring blankly and drooling and it really takes it out of her." 

Gunn looked from Dawn to Spike and reached a decision. "OK, I'll come with you, you try anything funny and I'll stake you before you can say holy water." 

Spike gave him a withering look and bent down and pulled Dawn into his arms, he set off for the stairs with her high against his chest pointedly ignoring the young black man. Gunn followed a beat later still clutching the picture of Buffy in his hand.

Spike settled Dawn in Angel's old bed aware of Gunn's eyes on him watching his every move; he pulled the covers over her indifferent form and then moved so Gunn's view was blocked for a moment. He drew a loving hand over her eyes closing them gently. "Sleep pet. Call if you need anything I'll be right outside." 

He stepped back and sighed as she lay there passively and then gesturing Gunn to move closed the doors separating the bedroom from the sitting room. He fetched two bottled beers from the small fridge in the corner and indicated to Gunn to take a seat, when the other man was settled Spike began to pace nervous energy coming off him in waves. 

  
  


He stopped finally by the doors separating him from Dawn and began to speak in a low voice. "Angel, Cordelia and the other guy are dead." He looked at Gunn as the other man gave a low moan. "They fought as well as they could but there were just too many." He closed his eyes briefly and when he opened them Gunn saw his own grief and pain reflected there. "The Slayer and her crew all died in the battle, the kid and me are all that's bleedin' left." Gunn caught his breath as Spike's face crumpled into a mask of sheer misery and the vampire fought for control. "The Slayer, Buffy, sacrificed herself for Dawn and threw herself right into a soddin' portal, Angel couldn't take it and chucked himself in after her." He stared into the neck of his bottle and gave a short bitter laugh. "Always was one for the big romantic gestures was Angelus. Bleedin' Romeo and Juliet all over again it was." 

Gunn leaned forward and dropped his head into his hands wave after wave of pain crashing over him. Cordy, ballsy smart-mouthed Cordy, was dead and the two men that Gunn had respected above all others with her, he shook his head and with tears thickening his voice whispered. "Did they suffer?" 

Spike's head came up and he managed to swallow the brutal reply that came to his lips when he saw Gunn's miserable figure, he forced himself to say in an even tone. "No, it was very quick. Cordelia died with Giles and, Wesley is it? Wesley wouldn't have known a thing about it." He leant his back against the door and sank down until he reached the floor. "Angel would have died happy I imagine. At the end he was with Buffy and that was all he ever wanted." 

He looked away from Gunn at the wall and fought for control once more, this was the first time he had really allowed himself to think of that night and the knowledge that the Slayer was truly gone burned like the most potent of Holy Waters. He thought for a moment he would explode form the searing agony and his mouth opened in a silent scream. Minutes passed and Spike came back to himself gulping in air he didn't need he looked back at Gunn. "I have to check on Dawn. I'll be back” 

Gunn raised his head and Spike looked away at the sight of the tears streaming down the young man's face and hurriedly stepped through the doors closing them soundlessly behind him.

When he returned Gunn had brought himself under some kind of control and was picking listlessly at the label of his untouched beer, Spike sat down on the floor opposite him and nodded to the bedroom. "She's asleep. She's been like that since it happened and I don't know what to do for her, I can't take her to a doctor because I don't know if anyone knows that she's alive and I can't run the risk of tipping them off. Buffy gave her to me when she...left” He tipped his head back and sighed. "I'm a demon, I don't know what to do. Christ knows what sort of uglies are looking for us and all I have for a back-up is a kid that can't even feed herself let alone fight." He narrowed his eyes suddenly and looked at Gunn. "Speaking of fighting where the hell were you when the end of the world was happening? If you're as tight as you seem to think you are with Angel why weren't you there fighting at his bloody side?" 

Gunn looked even more miserable at the accusatory tone of the vampire's voice. "Cordelia had a vision. She saw all of you and all of them but she didn't see me. Angel made me stay behind." His breath caught and he finished brokenly. "He said someone had to mind the shop while he was gone." Without warning he brought back his arm and threw the beer in his hand savagely against the wall. "They knew what would happen and they still went and left me here waiting for them to come back, letting me think everything would be okay." 

Spike stared at Gunn as he began to sob once again. "How could they know what would happen? I thought the visions were only a heads up to Angel not a bloody guarantee absolute." He paused thinking of Cordelia's face when she had entered the shop that night and a shiver ran down his spine as he remembered her set look as she had stared at Buffy and her old friends. They  _ had _ known, all of them, and still they had come marching to Buffy's aid knowing they were signing their own death warrants. Spike shook his head and muttered. "Save me from soddin' heroes." 

He stood gracefully and moving to the cupboard behind Gunn opened it and took out a bottle of whiskey and two glasses, he poured a generous measure in each and handed one to Gunn. "To the heroes, wherever they are now, may they rest in peace." 

  
  


He tipped his head back and swallowed the burning liquid; he poured another shot and after refilling Gunn's glass resumed his place on the floor. Silence descended for a while until Gunn looked up and said. "So what's your deal? You got a soul too?" 

Spike looked outraged and just for a minute was his old self again. "No I bloody don’t! I'm 100% vamp through and through." He lifted his chin and said with dignity. "I have a chip, it's completely different."

Gunn was confused. "A chip?"

Spike nodded wearily. "A chip. A little parcel of plastic and electrons. It stops me attacking anyone human and feeding off live ones” Gunn’s face twisted in revulsion and Spike rolled his eyes condescendingly. "Look we aren't all Master of Pain like Angel you know, we're  _ vampires, _ death and destruction is pretty much what we do. This chip let's me be what I am, I just can't act on it." He sighed. "It's very annoying"

Gunn frowned. "So you can't hurt me?" 

The vampire glared at him and spat venomously. "Rub a little salt and lemon in that open wound there why don't you?"

The youth ignored him and continued. "So that's why you didn't attack me downstairs, you  _ couldn’t! _ "

Spike eyed him grimly. "Good grief, Xander is that you? You can't have been around the cosmic wheel that quickly surely?"

"Who's Xander?"

"Another complete twit I know. Knew. He always needed things spelt out for him in simple words too."

"Hey!" Spike shrugged and reached for a cigarette, he grinned evilly and said. "Hey mate, if the village idiot's hat fits..." He lit his cigarette and eyed Gunn speculatively as he leaned his head back against the wall. “So, what’s your deal? Trying to get in Cordy’s pants by playing the big hero?’

Gunn glared. ‘She was my friend and I loved her. Show some damn respect.’ 

Spike leered around his glowing cigarette and narrowed his eyes against the smoke. ‘But a definite hottie yeah?’ 

Gunn bowed his head and stared at the floor again ‘Has anyone ever told you that you are a very unpleasant person?’

Spike raised his glass in a mock toast . ‘Thank you. Seriously what was the deal? If not for the fair Cordelia then what? Street cred? Bloodlust?’ 

Gunn met his eyes with a long level look and shrugged. ‘Why do you do it? You don’t have a soul and there’s got to be ways around the chip so what’s your deal?’ 

Spike smiled bitterly. “Love’s bitch, mate. Always was, always will be. But I believe we were discussing your pathetic excuse for an existence not mine.”

Gunn watched the vampire with a frown for a moment and then, with a shrug, began to talk about his sister and how he came to be involved with Angel and his friends. The night slowly passed as they talked of their fallen friends and, somewhere along the line, an alliance was formed. While Spike decided what do about Dawn, Gunn would back his play and take care of any human threats whilst Spike took care of the demon ones.

It had worked well. When Dawn had finally started to come out of her shell and notice the world around her once more, Gunn was there to help as Spike struggled to comfort the stricken girl. When Spike couldn’t be with Dawn as she sat in the courtyard, brooding in the morning sun, Gunn was there holding her as she sobbed.

It was still Spike she turned to most however. As much as possible she stayed by his side, until he thought he would go mad from the constant attention. When he first carefully broached the subject of contacting her father, she had screamed for an hour before collapsing to her knees, clutching at Spike until he had promised not to bring the subject up again until she felt stronger. When days turned into weeks and there was still no sign of Dawn becoming more able to cope with the idea of leaving him, Spike had finally gone behind her back and contacted Hank Summers. Although he was sure he had done the right thing, Spike couldn’t help the small niggling voice inside him that insisted he was betraying Buffy and his sire by pushing her towards her father.

Which brought them to this fine sunny morning. Two weeks of Dawn begging, pleading, shouting and finally making a run for it rather than have Spike hand her over to her father. Spike had found her within half an hour of course, and dragged her, literally, kicking and screaming back to her room, past the startled Gunn and then had locked her in for the rest of the night.

Spike jumped up and began pacing the lobby. There were just a few minutes until Hank arrived and he was nervous. The man had seemed upset over his eldest daughter’s death when they had spoken on the phone, but Hank had still managed to find excuse after excuse to avoid coming to LA to be with his younger child. Spike realised that Spain was a way off, but two weeks to catch one plane? That wasn’t bad luck, that was downright disinterest.

Gunn got off the sofa and tried to block the vampire’s path. “Man, has it occurred to you that the reason you don’t seem to be dealing is that you don’t wanna give her up?” He held up a hand to forestall Spike’s automatic protest. “Yeah, yeah, I know. You’re the Big Bad, you have no feelings, but maybe, just maybe, you do. You’ve already lost one love this month, do you really want to lose another?”

Spike spun away. “You don’t bloody get it, do you? She’s a  _ kid _ . That means school, clothes shopping… _ boyfriends _ !” He threw his hands up helplessly. “I’m a vampire! I’m nearly a hundred and fifty years old and I’ve had precisely three women in my life. Drusilla, who can’t be called healthy by anyone’s standards, Harmony, who let’s face it is only slightly more intelligent than your average carrot, and Buffy. Buffy who I loved with everything I had, and the closest she let me get to her was when she was kickin’ the crap out of me. I can’t be trusted to raise a puppy up right, let alone a kid. She  _ has _ to go.”

Gunn opened his mouth to reply and then turned as the hotel doors opened. A man stood on the threshold and peered uncertainly into the lobby at the two men there. “William?”

Spike stepped forward and extended his hand with what he believed to be a pleasant smile, flatly ignoring Gunn mouthing ‘ _ William _ ?’ mockingly behind him. “Mr Summers? I’m William.” He gestured brusquely to the sofa and moved quickly to the stairs. “I’ll go get Dawn. She’s lookin’ forward to seein’ you, like.” He tossed a glare at Gunn as the younger man gave a muffled snort and started up the steps. “Make yourself at home.”

*************************************

“Go  _ away _ !”

Spike cursed foully under his breath and forced himself to take a tight hold on his temper. “Come on, Pet, open up. Daddy’s here.” His eyebrows shot up as his sensitive hearing caught the vicious opinion Dawn muttered of that development. “Now, now, luv, none of that. Open the door.” His tight hold on his control slipped as he caught another disgusting string of swear words from the young girl in the room and he thumped on the wooden panel in front of him. “Open the bloody door, ‘Bit, or I’ll kick the soddin’ thing down!”

There was a pause of a few seconds and then he heard Dawn walk slowly to the door and the key turned in the lock. The door swung open, revealing Dawn glaring at Spike with a tear-streaked face. “I’m not going, Spike. I want to stay here with you.”

Spike cast an anxious look over his shoulder in case Hank was anywhere within hearing range and pushed Dawn hastily back into her room, kicking the door shut behind him. “Dawn will you stop being such a bloody brat and get your bleedin’ stuff together? We’ve been over this, ‘Bit. He’s better able to take care of you. What ‘ave I got?” Spike planted his hands on his hips and cocked his head to the side to say reasonably. “A tendency to turn extra crispy in the sun and a yearning for a mouthful of blood on occasion. That’s not  _ normal _ !”

Dawn stamped her foot in frustration. “Neither is practically disowning your own daughters because they happened to move town. He didn’t even know Buffy was…” Dawn’s voice cracked as she spoke her sister’s name but she forced herself to go on. “He didn’t even know that Buffy was the Slayer. He doesn’t know me or what my life was like. He doesn’t know about the Key, what if someone comes after me again? He can’t protect me.”

Spike crossed to her bed and threw himself down on it wearily. “Dawn, Pet, even if I wanted too, I couldn’t keep you with me. You didn’t see his face downstairs. I know what I look like to others; it’s part of the image. The Big Bad. What dad in ‘is right mind is goin’ to let ‘is daughter, his fourteen-year-old daughter at that, live in a empty hotel in LA with someone like me?” He dragged his fingers through his hair. “Then there’s the whole vampire issue. Sooner or later I’m getting’ this chip out and then I’m going on a rampage like you wouldn’t believe. Do you really think Buffy wanted that for you, a bloody, painful, terrified ending?” Spike looked up at the white-faced girl. “I don’t think so, pet, do you? If that’s what we saw for you, we’d ‘ave left you to Glory and saved ourselves a whole lot of trouble.”

Dawn stared disbelievingly at Spike. “You…You’d eat me?”

“In a bleedin’ heartbeat, luv! You think because I protected you for a few weeks, you were different? You’re soddin’ food, luv! I kept you safe because if I gave you up the world ends, and I can’t eat you without givin’ myself a brain-melting headache. End of story.” Spike glared coldly at Dawn as she began to shake. “You’re nothin’ to me, little girl, now pack a bag and get out. I’ll send the rest of your stuff on after you.”

Dawn continued to stare at Spike as though she’d never seen him before for several long moments and then turned stiffly away from him to move jerkily around the room, stuffing things into a holdall. 

Spike kept his face a blank mask as Dawn moved around him; careful not to show the pain his harsh words to his girl had caused him. The brutal words had taken everything he had, but he was set on doing what he thought Buffy and Joyce would have wanted. If the only way to get Dawn to go with her father was to make her believe that there was no one in the world to care then that was what he was going to do. Spike stood as Dawn closed the zipper on her bag and followed her as she walked silently from the room without looking at him.

*****************************

Gunn watched with narrowed eyes as Dawn stood stiffly in her father’s embrace. The girl looked like she had when he had first laid eyes on her, completely unaware and uncaring of her surroundings. He glanced at Spike who was watching the unenthusiastic reunion with narrowed eyes as he stood in the shadows with his hands in his pockets, something had happened between the vampire and the girl that was for sure.

Gunn looked back at Hank and Dawn as they separated and scowled uneasily, the more he looked at the man the more he was convinced there was something very familiar about him. Gunn rolled his shoulders uneasily as all his instincts screamed at him there was something seriously amiss with Hank Summers. He walked forward and threw a casual arm around Dawn’s shoulders. “So what’s the plan? What are you two crazy kids doin’ next?”

Hank frowned at the possessive grasp Gunn had on his daughter, but one look at Gunn’s watchful face persuaded him not to protest. The younger man had a look to his eyes that chilled Hank Summer to the bone. “We fly to Europe tonight on the red eye. I want to get Dawn settled and into a routine as quickly as possible.”

Gunn looked back at Spike in alarm. They had assumed that Hank was returning to LA for good and that they would be able to continue keeping a watchful eye on Dawn from afar, if she was in Europe then it would be impossible to provide her with any kind of protection. Spike looked at Dawn for a long moment and then shrugged. “Ok. Well, ‘ave a good trip.”

Dawn’s face lost the expression of hope that she had worn for a brief moment and she stepped out of Gunn’s embrace. “Let’s go, Dad.”

She smiled briefly at Gunn as he pressed a small card into her hand and muttered. “Anytime you need me, even if it’s just to talk, call me. I’ll be here.” Dawn nodded and pushed the card into her back pocket. She turned to look at Spike one last time and when he steadfastly refused to meet her eyes, swallowed back tears and walked out of the hotel without looking back.

Hank shook Gunn’s hand and then turned to Spike. “Thank you for taking care of her. I’d like to give you something for your trouble.” 

He took a hasty step back as Spike snarled viciously and stalked forward. “I don’t want your money. Just get the bleedin’ hell out of here.” Spike watched as Hank stumbled back up the steps to the doors and fell through them and then turned on Gunn. “Pack the rest of her stuff and then get the ‘ell out. I see you again and I’ll kill you, understand human?” He spun away and was gone up the stairs before Gunn could utter a single word.

  
  


**End of Part 2.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Title: Bleedin’ Hearts and Flowers (3/?)**

**Author: Karen**

**Pairing: D/C (eventually)**

**Rating: R (for violence and torture.)**

**Disclaimer: Not mine, never will be.**

**Synopsis: The Scoobs and the Fang-gang are dead. Spike and Dawn are on their own.**

**Dedication: Mel, for everything. The Brats, ‘cos they the best. And for Houses and Cassie. My ass is well and truly sat, ladies.**

**Part 3.**

  
  


Spike came to with Gunn shouting his name and slapping his face. He peered blearily up until the other man swam into focus. “Get out.”

Gunn stepped back in disgust. “Man, you stink.”

Spike snorted and laid his head back in the armchair he had passed out in. After Dawn had left that morning he had proceeded to get thoroughly blitzed. He remembered cracking open the fourth bottle of bourbon around nine thirty that evening and then not much else. The idea of drowning his pain in whisky had seemed sound at the time, but he hadn’t counted on being beaten awake by a crazy person and now his head was feeling as though it was going to implode at any moment. Spike forced himself to focus on Gunn and snarled. “What do you want? I told you if I saw you again I’d kill you.”

Gunn snorted and looked unimpressed. “What are you going to do, breathe on me? I’m real scared. I’m here because we have a problem. Dawn’s gone.”

Spike rubbed his hand over his sore eyes and managed to raise his head. “ _ That’s _ what you woke me up for? I thought  _ I _ was stoned. We sent her away this morning, remember? Off to play happy bleedin’ families with Daddy dearest. What’s that show with all the corn fed kiddies in overalls? The Wittons? Wiltons?”

Gunn looked baffled. “The  _ Waltons _ ?”

Spike nodded. “That’s it. She’ll be a regular little Walton in no time.”

Gunn opened his mouth and then shut it again. A look of ‘I don’t want to ask but I gotta’ came over his face. “ _ You _ watched ‘ _ The Waltons’ _ ?”

Spike gingerly shook his head. “Not me, Dru. She used to watch and plan how she’d pick ‘em off one by one and then turn John-boy. She used to think is was real, a paradise of country bumpkins that all good vamps would get to when they died.”

Gunn’s face twisted in revulsion. “Man, you guys are sick!”

Spike gave a low, pained chuckle. “I keep telling you. Evil, that’s me. A monster to the bone.”

Gunn shook his head and pointed his finger at Spike. “Well, you better get your evil ass outta that chair. Dawn’s in trouble and we have to find her.”

Spike looked at him and said bitterly. “Dawn is on her way to bloody, soddin’ Europe by now with Daddy.”

Gunn put his hands on his hips and glared. “Not unless they Star Trekked their asses over. She ain’t headed to Spain, I followed them when they left and ‘Daddy Dearest’ headed straight for Wolfram and Hart.”

Spike frowned as the name rang a faint bell. “That sounds familiar.”

“It’s a law firm.” Gunn shifted anxiously and willed Spike to get up. “An  _ evil _ law firm.”

“Aren’t they all? He probably had some stuff to take care of before they left for the airport.” Spike let his head rest back against the chair and closed his eyes. “For Christ’s sake, stop being such an old woman.”

Gunn clenched his big fists. “Wolfram and Hart control most of the demon activity in town. The law is just a front. They brought Darla back from the dead and had Drusilla working for them. Believe me, if Dawn’s been taken there, she’s in trouble.”

Spike’s eyes opened and he slowly stood up. “Dawn’s with her father. He wouldn’t hurt her.”

Gunn’s scowled. “I had a friend at the airport run a check for me. There’s no seats booked in the name of Dawn or Hank Summers for tonight.” Gunn’s muscles tensed again as he braced himself for Spike’s reaction to the next piece of news. “Also, Hank Summers did not arrive in LA this morning or last night. Their records show that he was back in the States the day after Buffy died. He’s been in LA all along.”

Spike’s face darkened ominously. “He lied to me?” Gun nodded. “Why? Why would he leave Dawn here when he could have come and got her at any time?”

Gunn shrugged. “I don’t know. What I  _ do _ know is that this whole situation stinks as bad as you and Dawn’s out there on her own with no back up. We have to go find her.”

Gunn was forced to jump hurriedly out of the way as Spike vamped out and surged towards the door. “If he’s hurt her, chip or no bleedin’ chip, I will rip off his face and feed it to him. I’m going to sober up. Be ready.”

Gunn shouted after him as the sound of a shower being turned on came from the bathroom and the sounds of Spike tearing off his clothes came over a long, continuous stream of filthy swear words. “What are we going to do? We don’t have a plan!”

Spike jumped under the powerful stream of ice-cold water and stuck his head under as he yelled furiously. “Yeah, we do. Kill everyone who gets between me and Dawn.”

Gunn nodded. “Good plan.”

**************************

Twenty minutes later they drew up outside Wolfram and Hart’s offices in Gunn’s truck. Spike was running on pure fury and his temper was not made any sweeter by the fact that they had just under five hours until sunrise to find Dawn and bring her home. He looked up at the tower of glass and steel before him. “What’s the best way in?”

Gunn turned a speculative look on the offices and drummed his fingers thoughtfully on the steering wheel. “They got early warning systems for everything. Whatever we try we won’t get a foot inside without them knowing about it.”

He jumped as Spike punched the dashboard in frustration. After spending the better part of two centuries following the ‘march-in-and-rip-their-throats-out’ school of offensive manoeuvres, the vampire was disturbed to find that his mind was a total blank when it came to more delicate planning.

Gunn suddenly straightened and pointed out the window excitedly. “There is a god.”

Spike followed the pointing finger. “And he’s a woman?”

“That is no woman.” Gunn glared grimly out of the truck. “Her name is Lilah Morgan. If something’s happened to Dawn you can bet your ass she’s behind it.” Gunn reached behind the seats for some weapons. “If I take out the bodyguards, can you get her in the truck?”

Spike growled low in his throat. “We need her alive, right? If I don’t want to hurt her I can still use a bit of force. Just put your bloody foot down.”

Gunn nodded, started the engine and stamped on the gas to send the truck surging forward. Spike had time to see the three people ahead spin round in surprise before the truck screeched to a halt and they were throwing open the doors to spring from the truck. Lilah drew herself up to scream as Gunn threw himself forward to crack the skull of the nearest bodyguard with the heavy fighting staff he had grabbed from the truck. Spike dodged round the second man and grabbed Lilah, dragging her screaming behind him he saw Gunn backhand the other bodyguard and jump the man as he went down without missing a beat. Spike threw Lilah, still screaming, into the back of the truck and jumped in after her. Gunn leapt into the driver’s seat and looked in the rear mirror. “We got company.”

Spike whirled round to stare out of the back window as a group of heavily armed security guards burst from the law office’s front doors. “GO!” He glanced down at Lilah yelling her head off on the seat beside him. “Stop that bloody row or I forget I need information and rip your tongue out and eat it.” Lilah’s mouth shut with a snap and the screaming faded to a muffled whimper. Spike nodded curtly and turned back to Gunn. “Where are we goin’?”

Gunn spun the truck out onto the road and glanced back at Lilah huddled in the back. “I know a place. It’s miles from anywhere and we’ll be able to make as much noise as we like.”

Spike looked at Lilah and smiled a cold, cruel smile as his eyes glowed yellow. “Good.”

*********************************

The place Gun knew turned out to be a partially burnt warehouse in the industrial district. He drove the truck straight through the open doors and then reached back to grip Lilah’s hair and drag her over the back seat and out of the truck before throwing her hard onto the floor.

Desperately trying to gain some control of the situation, Lilah stared up at the two men standing over her and said tremulously. “You have no idea who you’re dealing with.”

Gunn slapped a hand on Spike’s chest to stop him hurling himself on the lawyer. “Wrong, Lilah. I know exactly who you are.”

Lilah stared at Gunn and her face bleached of all colour. “I’ve seen you in pictures. You worked with  _ him _ .”

Gunn grinned. “What it is to be famous. Now, we all know the last time you saw Angel it got nasty. This here’s Spike.” He jerked his head to indicate the blond vampire, who flashed his fangs obligingly. “He makes Angel look like the Dali Lama in terms of pure bad-ass evil.” Gunn bent, dragged the terrified woman up and thrust her towards Spike. “And I will feed you to him a piece at a time if you don’t give me the answers I need.” 

Gunn made a long sweeping gesture with one hand. “No one’s nearby. Angel torched Darla and Drusilla here and no one came. They burned and they screamed and  _ no one _ came.” Gunn dropped his voice and whispered calmly. “I will make you suffer in ways you can’t begin to imagine. You know that Angel’s dead, but what you  _ don’t  _ know is he was the one that held me back. You have Dawn Summers or you know where she is. Tell me and I let you go.” He glanced at Spike and the vampire saw the ice-cold resolution stamped on the smooth face before Gunn looked back at the terrified Lilah. “ _ Don’t _ tell me what I want to know and there won’t be anything of you left to find. I will erase every trace of your existence.”

Lilah blinked back tears and trembled in Gunn’s implacable grip. “Please…I don’t know anything.” She screamed as Gunn backhanded her hard across the face and she fell heavily to the floor.

Gunn watched the huddled figure on the floor for a moment and then casually pulled out a knife. He turned the blade around and around as he said conversationally. “Dawn’s fourteen years old. She’s an innocent and we think she’s been betrayed by her last family left in this world.” Gunn stooped in a lightening fast movement and yanked Lilah up by her hair once more; he ignored her scream of pain and continued in the same even tone. “You are scum. I know all that you did to Angel and I know all the things you’ve done for your company. For money and power.” Slowly Gunn’s head shook back and forth. “Technically you might have a soul, but to me you just ain’t human.” In a move so fast that Spike nearly missed it, Gunn slashed his knife down Lilah’s left cheek.

The skin parted like butter and Gunn watched expressionlessly as blood welled up and then began to stream down Lilah’s face as she began to sob. Gunn used his grip on her hair to shake her head gently. “I have a soul. A good one I like to think, but a friend once told me I had a dark side and it was taking over.” For the first time there was a flicker of emotion on his face as he continued. “She’s dead now. She went to her death to save a little girl and because she saw she was needed. I think Cordelia saw what would happen to her and she went into Hell because she knew it was the right thing to do.” Gunn’s face smoothed out again and he cocked his head to the side as he confided. “She helped bring me back from the edge once, even though I pushed her away. She’s not here now and I don’t have anyone to answer to. I don’t have a purpose anymore, all I have is a lonely, frightened little girl who you have placed in some kind of danger and I will kill to get her back.” The knife slashed through the air again and Lilah’s other cheek was opened up to spill yet more blood. “Saving Dawn is the right thing to do. Tell me where she is.”

Lilah sobbed through the blood and pain and stared in horrified disbelief at the tall, black man towering over her. All her research had convinced her that he was nothing more than muscle in Angel’s little gang of do-gooders. The girl had been a Seer, a link to the Powers and therefore important. The Englishman was learned and had proved his worth time and time again, but this one, the boy; he was just a street hood. A nothing. But suddenly here Lilah was and he didn’t look like nothing anymore.

His rage and cold hatred swept over her and she was as scared, if not more so, as the night Angel had locked the Wolfram and Hart lawyer’s in Holland’s cellar and left them to Drusilla and Darla’s tender mercies. She opened her mouth and tried to speak, Spike moved forward and stood shoulder to shoulder with Gunn as he glared at her. He knew what they were doing was wrong, and he tried to blank out the mental image of the Slayer’s horrified face with the thought that this was helping Dawn. Getting the girl back, safe and in one piece, was what mattered, whatever they had to do was worth it.

Gunn held his bloodied knife before Lilah’s eyes and warned. “Don’t even think about lyin’ to me.”

Lilah choked back another sob as the numbness from the cuts on her face began to wear off and burning pain assailed her senses. “She…she’s in a temple in a cemetery not far from the outskirts of Hollywood. We know that the portal is closed…” Her voice faltered but Spike snarled warningly and she hurried on. “She still has power. A lot. People will pay to harness it.”

Spike growled furiously and spun away. After all that they had been through, and all that they had done to keep Dawn safe he had ended up leading demon brokers straight to their door. Gunn glanced briefly at his colleague and then back at Lilah. “How does the dad fit?”

Lilah swallowed nervously. “He works for us. We contacted him when we first learned of the Slayer’s connection to Angel. When we first ran into Angel we needed everything we could get against him. Summers didn’t know anything…” Her eyes closed as she fought back a wave of dizziness and then gasped as Gunn yanked mercilessly on her hair again, forcing her eyes open. “We…we told him what his daughter did. We had to come up with some evidence but finally we convinced him. We were going to use the Slayer against Angel but then Glory arrived and everything changed. We discovered what she wanted and started out own search for the Key.” 

Lilah gave a short bitter laugh. “We knew before the Slayer did. About the girl. We told the father and it broke him. Having one freak as a kid was bad enough, but two was enough to destroy him.” Lilah looked away from Gunn’s furious stare, unable to meet his gaze anymore. “As soon as we heard of the Slayer’s death we contacted him and brought him home. We waited until we had the right buyers and then sent him in to get the kid. We wanted her with him for as little time as possible to reduce the chance of screw-ups.”

Gunn laughed derisively. “Nice job.” He flung her away in disgust and crossed to Spike’s side. “I knew there was something familiar about him. I was staking out the offices just before I came to you, I think I saw him comin’ and goin’ a couple of times.”

Spike nodded and looked back at Lilah, saying quietly. “We can’t leave her alive.”

Gunn closed his eyes and thought of Cordy. “I know.” He let out a long breath and opened his eyes. “We have to get all the information they have on Dawn and destroy anyone that knows who she is.”

They turned as one back to the broken woman on the floor and Spike said harshly. “What’s she bein’ used for?”

Lilah shook her head and sobbed. “I don’t know.” She flinched and tried to scramble away as Spike stalked towards her. “I really don’t! We sold her to a bunch of Sloraths. They need her for a ritual; I don’t think she’ll be sacrificed. They were very insistent on her being kept alive.”

Spike had never felt more murderous in his life. The thought of Dawn being in demonic hands again nearly broke what little control he had left, worse was the knowledge that he had handed her over after viciously destroying her belief and trust in his love for her. His eyes glowed so brightly they were almost orange as he snarled. “Tell me where she is, where the man is and who else knows about her. If you get all the information you have on her we’ll let you live.” He pulled Lilah up and threw her to Gunn. The other man made no effort to catch her and she fell heavily to the floor. “You’ll have to go with her.” They locked eyes over Lilah’s head and Gunn gave a short nod. The unspoken knowledge that the woman was to die as soon as Gunn had what they needed hung between them.

Forty minutes later they drew up outside a leafy cemetery. Spike grabbed Gunn’s homemade axe from the floor of the truck. “Be back before the sun rises.” He made to get out of the truck, but stopped as Gunn grabbed his arm.

“You need back-up.”

Spike shook his head and indicated Lilah huddled in a shivering heap in the back of the truck. “I need you to take that bint and finish this. I can’t do that. What I  _ can _ do is go in there and massacre some demons. They’ve got my girl and I want her back.”

Gunn tightened his grip on Spike’s arm. “ _ Our _ girl. They have our girl.” Spike looked at the dark eyes daring him to disagree and, after a moment, gave a short nod. Gunn slowly let go of his arm. “I’ll be back.” Spike opened the door without a word and slipped silently into the night. Gunn let out a sigh and glanced in the rear-view mirror, Lilah’s wide eyes stared back at him. “Well, attorney-girl, what do you say me and you take a ride?” He pulled away from the cemetery gates and ignored the muffled sobs as Lilah finally realised she was going to die.

************************************

Spike ran silently thorough the graves towards a huge white marble mausoleum. He barely broke his stride as a robed figure appeared before him and swung with his axe. The body dropped as the head flew into the shadows around him. Spike slowed marginally as he neared the white building and, sure enough, two more figures stepped out of the darkness around him. Spike growled. “I don’t ‘ave fuckin’ time for this. If you want to live, leave. Anyone with a burning desire to be in several separate pieces come mornin’, step on up.” 

The two figures paused briefly before moving forward to flank him. Spike yelled a wordless battle cry and his game-face appeared as he lunged for figure to his left and delivered a hard roundhouse kick to spin the figure around. Using his momentum, he kept on turning to bring his axe round with a lethal force to connect with the other being’s neck. The body dropped and Spike whirled to pounce on the other stunned creature and rip its head off with a roar of effort. He straightened and was just bending to retrieve his axe as a terror-filled scream ripped through the night.  _ Dawn _ ! Spike gripped the axe handle and heaved as he turned to throw himself at the door of the mausoleum and crash through it.

Spike barely had time to register the sight of Dawn chained sobbing over an altar at the other end of a long room before he was swinging his axe to meet the rush of howling demons that greeted his dramatic entrance. From what he could see there were maybe a dozen demons between himself and a figure kneeling before Dawn chanting as a white mist rose from her body to settle in a large, glass jar. Spike screamed with fury and swung to take the head off the first demon to reach him. In the split second before the head shot off its shoulders he caught a glimpse of brown mottled skin, livid with purple lines covering the scabby skin and offset by the glowing green eyes and sparse hair straggling down to its shoulders. Another strong swing decapitated two of the disgusting things and Spike vaulted their bodies, yelling furiously as he ducked a punch by another demon and crashed into its mid-section carrying it forward with him to slam into a sword wielded by one of its brethren.

Spike snarled and shoved the squealing demon away as he lashed out with his foot and caught another on the knee. There was a wet crunch and the demon screamed, only to be cut off as Spike jumped on its head and launched himself at the chanting demon. He landed squarely on top of the demon and the chanting was cut off abruptly. The mist filling the jar froze for a moment before rushing back to Dawn’s body.

Dawn came to herself with a scream. The noise around her was incredible and she was forced to watch in terrified confusion as a demon was hurled across the room and was impaled on an iron candelabrum, ripping its stomach open and spilling its entrails in a steaming mass onto the floor. At her feet lay what looked like the body of the high priest, but Dawn realised that she couldn’t be sure. The face had been ripped completely away and a huge hole had been punched through the thing’s chest. Fighting to control the sudden urge to vomit, she tried to see the person fighting the remains of the demon sect in the middle of the floor. Whoever it was, was hidden under some five bodies, the only clue they were still alive being the occasional scream or yell coming from the writhing pile.

Dawn tried desperately to pull her chafed and bleeding wrists through the iron manacles that restrained her to the wall. Sobbing with terror, she tried desperately to think of who her saviour might be. The only person that knew who she was, and who might help her, was her father. The hate and fear over his betrayal faded as she sought to help herself and it was only when an enraged voice shouted furiously “Will you lot just SOD OFF!” that she realised her rescuer was Spike. Dawn screamed as she saw him erupt from the floor only to be run through with a sword and then hurriedly shut her eyes as Spike plunged two hands into the demon’s chest and quite literally tore it in half.

There were now two demons left alive and as they turned to make a run for the door, Spike wrenched the sword from his own cut and swung with ferocious strength. One head popped from its head like a pea from a pod and the other was held on by a thin strip of skin as the bodies fell to the floor. Spike raised his weapon and all the pain, fear and frustration of the last few weeks came flooding out. He hacked and carved at the bodies on the floor, slipping in gore and blood as body parts flew around him. Finally, spent, he sank to his knees and sobbed brokenly, his arms wrapped around his shaking body and it was only the sound of Dawn’s weeping that broke through and allowed him regain some kind of control of himself.

Spike pushed himself shakily to his feet, soaked with his own blood and that of his victims, and he staggered towards the hysterical girl still chained to the altar. His fingers shook violently as he fumbled to free Dawn from her bonds, but finally she was freed and he caught her as her legs buckled. They sank to the floor together and Dawn touched his face in disbelief. “You came for me.”

She gasped as Spike’s face crumpled again and he yanked her against his bloodied chest. “Always, ‘Bit, always. I’m sorry, so sorry.” Dawn stroked his back as he whispered words of contrition mindlessly into her hair, clinging wonderingly to him as dry sobs wracked his body. When he had savagely been hacking at the demon corpses when the fight was done, she had been terrified, truly seeing him as something other than human for the first time. His savagery had seemed never ending and then he had sunk to the floor, crying like a lost child, and he had never seemed more human to her than kneeling in the blood of the slain and weeping out his pain and anger.

Eventually Spike eased his stranglehold on her and pulled back slightly to stare into her face. “Did they hurt you?” He lightly touched her hair. “If they hurt you, ‘Bit, I’ll…”

Dawn shook her head and looked dazedly at the carnage around her. “You’ll what, kill them again?”

Spike pulled her close once more as she giggled hysterically. “Ssh, kitten, I’ve got you now.”

Dawn pushed feebly against his chest. “You  _ gave _ me to them…”

Spike flinched and ignored her faint struggles to tighten his hold on her. “I didn’t know, sweet. I thought I was doing what the Slayer would have wanted. I’d die before I’d let anyone hurt you.

Dawn began to sob in bitter anger. “You didn’t want me. You don’t care…”

Spike swallowed and whispered brokenly. “I care. I wanted what was right. I put what was right before what I wanted and it nearly killed me.” He shuddered. “And you.” Spike gripped Dawn’s arms to push her upright and made her look at him. “I want you with me. You’re all I have left, ‘Bit. I tried so hard not to want you, to give you up, but I can’t.” A weary smile flickered across his bloodstained face. “From now on we stay together. I can’t lose you again.”

Dawn stared wide-eyed back at him, seeing the sincerity of his words painted all over his face. She wanted so much to believe him, but she had trusted in him before and her heart had been ruthlessly smashed into nothing. “For Buffy, its all for Buffy.”

Spike shook his head at her vulnerable, broken expression. “No, pet, not just for Buffy. She’s dead, we both have to accept that.” He cupped her face in gentle hands. “I promised her I would protect you, but I didn’t say I would love you.” Cold fingers stroked Dawn’s cheek. “But I do, luv, I love you so much.” He wiped the tears that began to fall and kissed her forehead tenderly. “Everything we knew is gone, but we still have each other. Kitten, I will love you ‘till the day I die. I don’t have too, the Slayer would never know, I want to. I want you with me and I absolutely promise not to ‘and you over to another one of your barmy relatives ever again.”

Dawn choked on a tiny giggle. “Are you sure? I’m not the easiest person to live with.”

Spike grinned. “Well, I’m no picnic either, pet. We’ll fight and hate each other, it won’t be bleedin’ hearts and flowers, but it will be real. I’ll never turn away from you again.

Dawn flung herself at the vampire and wound her arms around his neck, too overcome to speak. Spike held her tightly and felt, for the first time in years, a sense of peace. He settled her against him more comfortably and then rocked her gently backwards and forwards as he waited for Gunn to return. Dawn lay with her head on his chest and slowly drifted off with his cold arms wrapped around her and his heart lying still under her cheek. 

  
  


**Part 3.**

There you go, Mel, Cassie, Houses! Happy now?

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	4. Chapter 4

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Gunn burst through the hotel doors, jumped the steps and stopped on a dime in front of Spike, who slumped morosely on the sofa. “Am I too late? I got your message and came straight home.” He stared frantically around himself. “Where is she? Where’s Dawn?”

“She’s gone.” Spike’s whole body screamed dejection and defeat as he stared down at the floor.

Gunn clenched his big hands into fists and swallowed. “And you just let them take her?” He shook his head in horror and sank down next to Spike on the sofa.

Spike glared at him. “I couldn’t have stopped them, there were just too many, they wouldn’t listen to me.”

Gunn glared back. “Do you know where they took her? Do you have  _ any  _ idea what’s goin’ to happen to her?” He shook his head in disgust. “I stand by my first impression, you are one pansy-assed vamp.”

Spike jumped snarling to his feet. “Listen you toss-pot, I did the best I could. I didn’t stand a chance. It was chaos, and the  _ noise _ , it all happened too bloody fast.” He paced anxiously up and down. “We have to think. Where would they take her?”

Both men looked round at the sound of a snigger and watched as Faith stepped out of the office. “Guys, she’s on a date, not out with the legions of hell. Get a grip.” The dark-haired Slayer sashayed over to join the men and curled comfortably into the spot on the sofa Spike had recently vacated. “There’s no wicked-badness out there tonight, trust me.”


End file.
